Use Time Wisely When Saving Money

We all have a limited amount of energy to get things done each day. By the time we go to work, take care of the family, attend to basic needs like eating and hygiene, and deal with all of life’s curve balls, we don’t have a lot left over for dealing with abstract issues like, “Money.” There are so many other things that seem more important and immediate than our finances. Yet money still has to be dealt with if we want everything else in our lives to run smoothly. That’s why it’s important to allocate what little energy we have left over wisely and always look out for ways to improve productivity.

4 Responses to Use Time Wisely When Saving Money

I couldn’t agree with this article more. I think that someone who is just starting out trying to budget, manage their finance and live frugally should know that it does take some time investment to figure out what works for them. For example: I really tried to play the couponing game last summer, but as a college student who doesn’t get the paper and who doesn’t really need to go out and run errands very often (its just me not a whole family), it wasn’t realistic. So now I look for freebies and deals that don’t involve coupons, and blog about them for other people who might not be able to make couponing worth their time, but still want to get the same type of benefits.

Similar to what you touched on, I don’t think people ever value their time when calculating the cost of activities or responsibilities. Time is a valuable intangible that should always be considered, even if its free or spare time.

Last week I spent less than an hour on the phone and lowered my house insurance $900! I should have done this several years ago, but getting a bill so immense that we couldn’t afford it got me on the phone.

Because I don’t get the paper, doing coupons is difficult for me and my local store won’t take internet coupons. So if needed, I check the CVS ad and with it and my customer card save a lot there. Until Jeff did his eating for a $1 blog, I didn’t realize what savings were to be had at CVS and we are constantly there picking up prescriptions, so easier to pick up the on sale cereal at the same time. Last week they had coffee for $7.50/can. Hubby had called out as I left the house that he was on his last can and I needed to look for a sale. So I saw the sale and picked up 4 cans, especially as the other types of the same coffee were selling for $12.50/can! It didn’t take much time to throw those in the cart while heading to get those meds. In other words, try to take advantage of the sales at the places you routinely have to go to save time and money.

My mother used to tell me I had more time than money so go for the things that take my time. Unfortunately, I don’t have much money now or pain free time, so I have to make the best use of both of these in my life.

I think saving is a matter of priority. Find the best places to save first then move to small places like coupons. First instance you mentioned, renegotiating a credit card interest rate. That would save you thousands over a longer period of time.